Tablet purchases to blame for slowing UK PC sales

But we've still got love for computers

PC sales in the UK continued to fall in Q2 2011 according to Gartner, with just 2.5 million desktop and laptop computers sold between April and June.

The continued slow-down, a drop of 15 per cent compared to the same period in 2010, was blamed on tightened consumer belts as well as focus shifting to tablets and smartphones.

However, as enthusiastically as Apple tried to sell it to us, it's not a case of the UK moving to a post-PC world. According to Gartner, we're still using PCs; we're just not buying them.

Down but not out

"Most [UK] consumers continue to hold back spending on PCs by extending life cycles on existing PCs and purchasing other devices," said Isabelle Durand, principal analyst at Gartner.

"PCs are not attracting consumers' disposable income, particularly in light of alternative devices," she added, most likely referring to tablets such as the Apple iPad 2, which enjoyed global shipments of over 15 million units in the same quarter.

"While remaining an important device to consumers, there are few compelling technological reasons to drive PC replacements."

Still, Jobs and co can enjoy one small victory: only Apple and Samsung saw growth in the UK PC market with Acer proving the biggest loser of the group, declining by an astonishing 47 per cent.